Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Believe

Lately I've been talking about TV shows. I've posted a few reviews, both of shows I liked and shows that disappointed, and I've mentioned one of the two showsthat I will be looking forward to now that Fringe is all done. The first show I'm interested in was called Almost Human. The second show I will be checking out this Fall is called Believe.

What a terrible Promo image. It's so unimaginative and quick and shoddy. It's so bland. Honestly, that's not the best sign right from the start. Plus, the eagle-eyed among you may have also noticed that this show, like Almost Human, has ties to J.J Abrams, who you might recall I am generally not a fan of. His stuff often disappoints me. What's my problem with J.J. Abrams' stuff? Mostly it's due to the fact that right from the start I'm always interested, and not because it's usually sci-fi stuff either, I'm talking about the High Concepts.

Would I be interested in a big budget POV film about Godzilla attacking New York? Yes I would. Would I be interested in seeing an homage to the films of Spielberg in the 80s about a group of kids who see a captured alien escaping from a train crash? Yes I would. Would I be interested in a kick-ass female spy navigating the deadly twists and turns of global espionage? Yes I would. Would I be interested in a group of people crash-landing on an uncharted island populated with weird monsters and mysterious secrets? Yes I would. Would I be interested in seeing Joe Pesci and Danny Glover fishing somewhat wackily? Actually... no. No, I wouldn't be interested in that. But I digress. The point is, somewhere between High Concept and Execution, Abrams and I usually part ways.

Like I said, he often disappoints...

But the good news is, he probably won't be too involved in the day-to-day on-set stuff with Believe or Almost Human, so much like Fringe there's a very good chance it won't suffer from his inability to create a cohesive narrative or stick-the-landing. Another piece of good news with this show? Alfonso Cuaron is the other big name involved. I've mentioned how much I enjoy his stuff. Simply put, I think he's amazing. I love his vision and his eye. So that's definitely a good thing, maybe even good enough to out-balance Abrams' influence. Maybe. Now, he probably won't be as involved in much of the day-to-day stuff either. He'll probably be more of a big picture presence, but I'm okay with that. Children of Men has made me a fan of his work forever.

So if Abrams and Cuaron pretty much cancel each other out and we're back to square one, what is it that draws me to this show in particular over the veritable plethora of eager genre TV that will soon be clogging up our sets this Fall?

Succinctly: I like the idea.

According to the Internet, and from watching the trailer posted below, the show follows a young girl born with special abilities--maybe she's the Buddha, maybe she's Christ, maybe she's Superman, at least, maybe one day--for now she's just a scared little girl with a too-heavy destiny hanging over her head and weird powers that she can't control. The people who are trying to protect her and shepherd her to the day when she does... whatever it is she is fated to do that will change the world, need help. They turn to a man on death row. He is supposed to be her protector, so they spring him from prison. The unlikely duo bond as they hit the road, staying low and off-the-grid, and barely one step ahead of the evil forces hunting her, drawn to her abilities, and her destiny.

I like that.

It's a little broad, sure, but there's potential to do something kind of cool. Check out the trailer...

Not bad, right? It's always nice to see Delroy Lindo. Sure, there's some real bad Man-hair going on, but the Lone Wolf and Cub-ness of it could be appealing. What do you think?

Published Work

Now you can get all the short stories published this year through the Onyx Neon Shorts Imprint, at a fraction of the cost, plus a lot of new content too. This collection not only includes my short story Harris, but a new one as well. It's called Billy Torch takes a Beating.